Chapter Two

Monday

"Call in sick," I whispered and kissed along her neck gently. Bella moaned and stretched out next to me. Her round little bottom ground into my hips and I almost lost it. I gently bit her shoulder and I was rewarded with another little groan.

"I can't," she said breathlessly "They need me today."

"I need you today" I teased. I turned her onto her back and gazed down at her. Even after four years I still couldn't believe such a beautiful creature was mine. Her arms were above her head and the morning light caught in her long brown hair that was spread out over the white pillows. Her rosy lips were parted and her cheeks were stained pink. Her milk white skin glowed and I wanted to kiss every inch of it.

"Your fucking gorgeous you know that, right?" I asked her. I lowered my body down onto hers and kissed her hungrily. She kissed me back, her arms wrapping around my neck. I would never tire of this, of the way Bella's skin felt next to mine or of the way she tasted. I released her mouth and Bella tried to pull away from me. I wasn't having any of that. I held her down effortlessly with one hand. Being a werewolf had its perks after all.

"Don't try and distract me with complements," Bella said with a groan. She stopped wriggling and looked up at me. "Come on I have to go in today".

Bella worked at Forks High School. Three years of college had flown by and Forks High had pretty much given her a job before she had even graduated. Now she was a full time English teacher and raved about it all the time. It was the happiest I'd seen her doing something normal and human. I called her Miss. Swan sometimes, just to tease her.

"Fine!" I exclaimed and rolled off her. I laid in bed and watched her walk over to our closet, naked, to pick out her clothes for today. I was working only part time as a mechanic at Dowlings. I couldn't get a full time job, not with the stress of the pack to worry about as well. Between us we didn't really have that much money but we got by.

We had found a tiny little shack of a place on the outskirts of La Push to rent. It only had one bedroom, one bathroom and kitchen and a den but it was good enough for us. Bella had discovered an amazing talent for bargain shopping and had managed to furnish the house in heaps of mismatching furniture from flea markets and charity shops. It looked fantastic.

I stumbled out of bed and into the shower. I had to patrol today and I wasn't looking forward to it. Sam had stepped down as Alpha and I had grudgingly stepped up. We hadn't seen any bloodsuckers for well over three years but we still had to patrol just in case. Plus I didn't want any surprise visitors from Italy slipping through to check up on Bella's human status.

"I'm probably going to be home late tonight" Bella yelled from the bedroom. She walked through in a blue blouse and jeans and stood in front of the mirror. She picked up a little brush and attempted to contain her hair into a ponytail. It didn't work too well be she still looked amazing to me.

"How come?" I asked turning my head toward her behind the clear shower door. I met her eyes in the mirror but she looked away from me and fussed with her shirt.

"I dunno some teacher meeting thing we all have to attend," she mumbled awkwardly. She didn't look back up at me. She's lying, I thought, but decided to let it go. I'd find out about it later. We could never keep secrets from each other for very long. Our Christmases and birthdays were always ruined that way. We always unwrapped our presents knowing what was inside because we always told each other long before we actually opened them. We always played it up though and pretended to be surprised. It had become a tradition.

"Ok well I have to patrol but we are heading back to Emily's afterwards. Emily said to invite you over for dinner anyway" I said as I scrubbed the shampoo out of my hair.

"Sure, sure," Bella replied. She glanced down at the little silver watch on her wrist "I gotta go, I'm late. I'll see you tonight"

"Kiss me before you go," I said opening the screen door and holding out a wet arm. She looked at it warily.

"If you so much as think of pulling me into that shower I will kill you Jacob Black," Bella threatened. It was so cute when she tried to look intimidating. I wondered how she kept an entire class of teenagers in line. I laughed at her and gave her my best would-I-ever-do-that-to-you look. She wasn't fooled.

"Yeah, yeah laugh it up wise guy. You act like I don't know you" Bella grinned at me as she said this and allowed my damp arm to pull her closer to me. I kissed her gently, savoring her strawberry taste. Her hand traced up my chest, ignoring the spray from the shower head, setting traces of fiery pleasure up and down my body. I gripped her arm tightly, tracing my fingers in circles on her elbow. Reluctantly I pulled away.

"See I can be good, Miss Swan," I teased. I kissed her forehead and whisper in her ear "What would I do without you?"

Bella pulled back and for a second her face looked terrified. Her eyes were wide, scared. Before I could comment it was gone and Bella was smiling at me. She stepped back and closed to shower door between us.

"I'll see you tonight, save me some food"

As much as I had been dreading it, it felt good to run flat out in wolf form. Nothing compared to it. It was only me and Quil out today. Quil was distracted. It was Claire's first year in school and he wasn't used to being apart from her so much.

Hope she doesn't hurt herself. I saw her eyeing that jungle gym and it's so high, what if she falls from it? What if the other kids bully her? I think I'd get in heaps of shit if I beat up a five year old. I wonder if I could sneak off and just check up on he. Just to make sure she's ok…

I tuned out Quil's worrying. It did no good to reassure imprint people. They had to see their imprint to believe you. So long as he didn't actually try to sneak off I could ignore him. I forced my legs to push harder, propelling me through the trees at an unbelievable speed. So far today we had found no leeches, not that we were really expecting to. After the huge battle four years ago we had only had one random nomad pass through our borders. We had quickly annihilated him before he even knew what hit him. We only ran patrols now to make sure none of the Volturi ever came sniffing around or any of the Cullen's showed up.

The Cullen's had left three days after Bella had broken up with Edward and chosen me. The last time I had seen Edward had been that morning in the tent. He had sent me a letter though. He said (in perfect cursive, the flashy bastard) that he respected Bella's decision to be with me but if I ever hurt her he would be there in an instant. He had said he would always watch out for her, waiting in the shadows should I ever step down or Bella leave me. I never showed it to Bella. It was the one secret I had kept from her.

I had quickly shredded it and thrown it in the trash. I couldn't believe the balls on that leech. As if I would ever hurt Bella. He was the one who had broken her and left her lifeless for months on end. I had never caught any scent of Edward so I could only assume that the future seeing leech was keeping tabs on her. The thought of that made my blood boil. I growled and pushed myself even harder. Sometimes I wish I did pick up on his scent. Any excuse to tear into him would be fine by me.

Chill man, Quil said. I was surprised he had even heard me through all of his worrying. I could still hear the mantra of Claire in the back of his mind but his attention was on me now.

The Cullen's aren't going to show up Jake (hope she's all right, don't fall, so small), Quil assured me. It's been years and we haven't heard a word from them (kill them if they hurt her, she's so cute when she laughs) or picked up any of their scents (she smells so pretty in the sun and her hair looks like its floating in the wind). Just let it go man.

Sure, sure, I grumbled and pulled in my patrol line. I was pretty much in Forks which was far out of our normal patrol run. I pushed The Cullen's to the back of my mind. I felt suddenly empty and remember the smell of chicken that had been coming from Emily's house when we had passed it an hour ago. My stomach growled ferociously. Sometimes I fantasized about entering an eating contest. I would win that hands down.

Let's pull in. Colin and Brady should be heading out by the time we make it back to Emily's and I'm starving, I decided. I spun my massive wolf body back in the direction of La Push. Bella could make a hell of a good lasagna but Emily's chicken was famous amongst the pack. It was so good I was practically drooling.

Awesome idea man, Quil's thoughts were enthusiastic as he headed back to base. Even though Sam was no longer Alpha (hell he didn't even phase anymore) Emily's place was still where everyone gathered. It was just too well positioned to give up on it. Plus the food was really good. For awhile the pack had thought about using my house to replace Emily's once Sam had well and truly given up pack life but it was too far behind La Push to be a convenient gathering spot. Emily's was smack in the middle so we still used it.

As I made my way to La Push I couldn't help but to think back on this morning. Bella had never looked at me like that. I was sure I had seen fear in her eyes but why? It had been bugging me all day. Every fifteen minutes or so her face would pop up into my mind with that look and I couldn't help but to worry about her.

She's fine Jake. Just relax about Bella; she's a big girl she can look after herself, Quil interrupted, irritated with my thoughts, his voice painfully loud in my skull. I mentally winced and Quil apologized. Sometimes if we thought things to each other with too much emotion it was like they were getting yelled at you, but unlike when you screamed at someone there was really no limit on the volume of a mental cry. And sometimes it was fucking loud.

Like you can talk, I scoffed and played back some of Quil's earlier worrying back at him. Quil bristled and gave me the mental equivalent of a jab in the ribs. My brain ached. I missed when Tylenol used to work to cure head aches, now I just had to live with it. I felt Colin's mind join ours and the Brady's just a moment later.

Yo Alpha man, Brady's voice boomed in my mind Emily's saved you guys some grub. Personally I reckon I should have eaten it for you but Emily is mean with that wooden spoon. If I didn't heal so fast I'd have a lump the size of Africa on the back of my head. Colin and Brady were still our youngest wolves. No more had phased after them and the Elders were pretty sure they'd be the last, for our generation at least.

Yeah it was fucking good, but Paul was eyeing it and his head is hard enough to break that spoon, Colin chimed in. I didn't doubt that for a second. Paul and Rachel had gotten married three months ago and the whole time I fantasized about breaking one of the church pews over his back. Not that it would have done any good. I knew it was imprinting and all but seriously, that was my sister. No one would ever be good enough for her, even an imprint, in my eyes.

Thanks guys, I said softly as I felt Quil's mind fade out, It's been all clear so just keep it tight around La Push. You coming to Emily's tonight for dinner?

Nah man, Colin replied, Party down at first beach for all us sexy seniors. Gonna get me some chicks tonight for sure! I felt more than heard Brady's excitement and shook my giant head. No one else had imprinted after Paul and the rest of the wolves may have exploited their new found muscle on the local female population more than they probably should. Embry was a notorious ladies man; you now the kind that mother's warn their daughters about and Colin idolized him. As much as it annoyed Embry he let it go, even now when Colin was starting to imitate him in almost every way.

All right, later. Keep an eye out though, I sent before phasing back without waiting for a reply. I pulled my cut off sweats off my ankle and walked the last mile to Emily's. It was starting to rain but I barely felt it. Bella's worried face was in my mind again. I hoped she was ok.

"Mine!" Claire screamed at the top of her lungs. The noise was deafening. How could someone so small scream so loudly? I watched as Claire roughly pulled the blonde Barbie doll out of Terry's pudgy hands. Terry was Sam and Emily's eighteen month old boy and he loved Claire even though she always pushed him away. Terry's face crumpled and his chubby cheeks turned red. Oh god there was going to be even more screaming in about three seconds.

I reached down and grabbed Terry off the floor. I held him high up in the air before tucking him into my side. The shock of suddenly going flying through the air halted what was sure to be a temper tantrum of epic proportions.

"Hey buddy. You don't want that, that's a girl's toy" I said to him, bending down to pick up one of the many scattered toys on the floor. I gave him an army tank and he promptly shoved it into his mouth. He drooled over the plastic toy happily as I carried him over to the couch and plopped down with him. It was almost six and Bella still hadn't shown up yet.

The whole pack was here except for Colin and Brady. Embry's latest girlfriend was clinging meekly to his side looking more than a little intimidated by all of the loud men arguing over food on the tiny round table. I was pretty sure her name was Nadia, but don't quote me on that one. Kim was talking to her; they went to college together apparently. A small scuffle broke out when Jared stole one of Seth's dinner rolls. Quil had picked up Claire and had joined me on the couch. Sam and Paul were being majorly soppy, sharing stories of wedded bliss. Rachel was laughing loudly from the little kitchen with Emily. Even Leah was in town.

Leah had left not long after the newborn battle. She had gone to college in the city and had completely given up phasing. Only she and Sam had managed to do that so far (apparently it was like going through drug withdrawal. Shakes, pains and a ridiculous urge to phase at every second. Just something else to look forward too). She was still as bitchy as ever though. She was leaning against the wall in the corner of the small den/dining room and texting rapidly on her cell, ignoring everyone around her.

"Jay-Jay," Terry cooed at my side. He had dropped his tank and had latched onto my arm, drooling all over me.

"Gee thanks. I save you from Claire and you slobber on me? Real nice kid," I joked and pulled him out in front of me. Emily appeared in at the end of the couch and stretched out her hands. As soon as Terry saw her he reached out his little arms at her. Emily smiled at him and picked him up, cuddling the little body to her chest.

"Thanks for keeping him occupied Jake. Every time I turn around he's getting himself into trouble" she said with a smile, pushing a loose strand of inky hair off her face.

"Don't worry about it," I mumbled as I wiped Terry's drool on to the arm of the couch. Claire was singing a song from Aladdin and Quil had joined in with her. Claire thumped her battered Barbie against Quil's chest in time with the beat. Emily gave Terry to Sam before rushing back into the kitchen as a timer starting beeping shrilly. Terry started crying as soon as his mother was out of sight. Leah's phone rang and she started talking loudly on it to be heard over the din. Jared crowed with victory at saving his dinner roll and the girls laughed at him. It was a mad house.

I stood up leaving Quil alone with his Disney princess and pushed my way through the throng to the front door. I heaved a sigh of relief when I was outside on the porch. It was some what quieter out here. I sat down heavily on one of the wooden lawn chairs and stretched my long arms above my head, listening to the bones pop.

I pulled my cell out of my pocket. It was only 6.07 pm. Where the hell was Bella? Don't get me wrong I'm never normally this paranoid about her where abouts. Bella could go where she pleased but I still had alarm bells going off in my brain about this morning. I had expected a text from her by now telling me what was wrong but I hadn't heard from her all day.

Suddenly headlights lit up the porch. I looked up as Bella ancient truck (which against all odds and thanks to my mad skills was still running) pulled up into Emily's drive. I watched as she killed the engine and stumbled out of the cab. She crunched up the drive toward me and climbed the steps heading for the door. She couldn't see me in the darkness. I reached out and brushed her side with long fingers. The scream was so loud I swear my ear drums were bleeding.

"Jesus Jake! You scared the shit out of me," she yelled, smacking me in the chest with her hand. It was like a feather. I stood up and grinned at her. I was still holding onto her side and pulled her toward me.

"Sorry honey I couldn't resist," I said as she curled her little body round mine "If it makes you feel better I'm pretty sure I'm now deaf in at least one ear"

"Sorry" she said quietly into my chest. I frowned at her even though she couldn't see it. I was expecting her to tell me I deserved it or joke with me. I pulled her back by her shoulders gently and cupped her face in my oversized hand, forcing her to look up at me.

"I've been worried about you today. Is everything alright? You seem… different" I asked softly. Her eyes dropped from mine and I could tell she would have hid her face from me if I wasn't holding it in place. You know how sometimes people talk about gut reactions. Like when you know something awful is going to happen right before it does? Yeah I had that now. Something was wrong, really wrong.

My first reaction was fear. Was she going to leave me? Was she back in touch with the leech or something? I tried to calm myself down but when Bella pulled away from me, stepped out of my embrace and crossed her slim arms over her chest, my anxiety rose even further. The last time she had pulled away from me was in my garage all those years ago. For the second time since becoming a werewolf I felt cold.

"I'm fine Jake," she said in a voice barely above a whisper. She wasn't even looking in my direction now. She was studying her sneakers like they were the most fascinating thing in the world. I took a deep breath and reached out toward her. I felt like she had slapped me when she flinched away.

"You're lying," I accused, letting my hand drop to my side. Thanks to my werewolf sight I could see her blanch even in the darkness.

"No I'm not," she insisted, taking another step backwards "I'm fine. Really I am"

"Bullshit Bella" I ground out, my voice hoarse and tight "You think I don't know when you're lying to me? What's going on?"

"Nothing Jake," Bella exclaimed and reached up to push a stray hair behind her ear. I don't know how I missed it before but my eyes zeroed in on her arm. The sleeves of her hoodie were pushed back around her elbows but that wasn't what caught my attention. On the inside of her right arm was a huge hand-shaped purple, black bruise. A huge hand-shaped purple and black bruise that had definitely not been there this morning.

"What the fuck is that?" I asked and grabbed her wrist pulling her arm into the light that was shining through the front door even thought I didn't need the extra light. Bella tried to pull her arm out of my hand but I didn't even feel it. Her other hand came up and yanked her sleeve down over her arm. I could hear a growl in my chest. Someone had hurt Bella. She wasn't even trying to lie, trying to tell me she had fallen or something. Someone had hurt her. I felt my body ripple.

"Jake calm down" Bella hissed. She pulled against my hand and I let it go. I was shaking so badly I couldn't have held onto it if I tried.

"Who did that to you?" I growled. I was going to hunt the bastard down and rip him limb from limb. I would kill him slowly for hurting Bella. Even that sounded too good for them. My entire body shuddered and I felt like I was going to lose it and phase right there on the front porch.

"Can we talk about this later?" Bella asked me, looking into my eyes voluntarily for the first time since she arrived. Her eyes were pleading with me, begging me to drop the subject. I was suddenly aware of the silence around us. Everyone inside had gone quiet. They must have over heard us.

"Please Jake. Later, I promise" Bella all but whispered. I took a deep breath and strode toward the front door. I could never deny Bella anything when she begged me like that. I pushed open the door roughly and caught guilty looks. Everyone looked away hastily. Leah was stabbing the same key on her cell phone pad in an attempt to look like she was still ignoring everyone. Oh yeah real smooth. I felt one more violent shudder before I pulled my body back under my control.

I heard Bella enter behind me but she didn't stop next to me. Instead she walked past me quickly, dumping her small hand bag on the floor next to the couch and leant against the kitchen work bench. Emily nervously cleared her throat her eyes darting back and forth between Bella and me before announcing that dinner was ready.

I drove Bella's truck home in silence. We hadn't spoken since she had promised me she would tell me what was going on later. Needless to say dinner had been awkward. Bella had sat next to be but she barely looked at me once and with every passing second I was getting more and more pissed off. I just wanted to drag her of the room and find out what was going on. Bella's hoodie had stayed on the whole night.

Bella didn't eat very much, just played with her food. I didn't eat very much either. Bella talked and laughed with everyone at the table as best she could but I didn't even try to pretend. I just pushed my mashed potatoes around my plate with my fork and glared at people who mentioned my name. It was a dick move on my part I know but I didn't care. I had just wanted out of there. I pulled into our drive way and killed the truck. Neither of us moved and I turned off the head lights plunging us into darkness.

"What's going on?" I asked, not bothering to ease into the subject. My hands were shaking and I kept them wrapped firmly around the steering wheel. Bella didn't answer me but I heard her heart beat speed up. She sighed.

"Come on Bells. What is it? Are you seeing Cullen again or what?" I spat at her voicing my deepest fear. As confident as I was in Bella's love for me I still knew that she had loved someone else just as strongly as she loved me now. Bella gasped at me at my comment.

"No!" she exclaimed vehemently. She turned her body to face me and fiddled with the cuff of her jacket. I didn't have to move that material out of the way to see the bruise that was under it. That image was seared into my brain forever. I kept my gaze forward and waited.

"How could you even think that Jake?" she asked, her voice tiny in the cab of the truck "I would never cheat on you"

"What else am I supposed to think?" I asked and let go of the steering wheel. I ran my hands through my short hair and pulled on it hard. The momentary pain did nothing to clear my thoughts. All I could think of was the way she used to look at Edward, the way until this morning she used to look at me. Now she looked sad and frightened. Did she think I was going to hurt her or something?

"Why are you scared?" I asked her gently, dropping my hands to my lap. I was determined not to frighten her anymore. God I hated the thought that Bella was frightened of me.

"I'm scared to tell you" she whispered dropping her own gaze to my hands. Timidly she reached out and grabbed one, squeezing gently. I couldn't help it and squeezed back. I waited, just staring at our hands.

"Who hurt your arm Bella?" I asked as softly as I could. I waited and the seconds ticked by so slowly. The silence was torturous. I counted to one hundred in my head. Two hundred. Three.

"You did, this morning. When you kissed me in the shower" she finally said. I whipped my head round to look at her. She did not just say that. I knew I was worlds stronger than the average man but I was always aware of how far to go with Bella. I had never bruised her before, not even in our most passionate moments. I had barely touched her this morning!

"I would never hurt you!" I spluttered, sure she was wrong.

"I know Jake," she said reassuringly "Never on purpose, I know"

Never on purpose, what the hell was that supposed to mean? I would never hurt her full stop. My head ached. I had no idea what was going on and nothing Bella was saying was making any sense. I changed tactics.

"There wasn't a teacher meeting today was there?" I asked. She was biting her lip and her over thinking face was on. She shook her head slowly. I had expected as much. I opened my mouth to ask her where she had been but she beat me to it.

"I was at the doctors in Seattle" she said simply, watching me warily. My whole train of thought shifted. She was at a doctor in Seattle? That still made no sense. There were doctors here in Forks why would she need to go all the way to Seattle. Why did she even need a doctor anyway? I knew she had had her check up just before Rachel's wedding and she said everything had been fine then. I couldn't remember her saying she was feeling sick in the last few weeks.

"Why?" I asked simply. I had no idea what my face looked like as she watched me. I felt strangely numb and sick all at once. That horrible gut feeling was getting worse and worse. I gripped her hand tightly, too tightly and she winced. I relaxed my hand but only a little.

"To see a specialist" she whispered. The cold feeling was back. I swallowed hard and clenched my jaw. Specialists were bad. Something was so wrong and I didn't know what to do. I moved my hands from hers and pulled her closer to me, gently. I wrapped an arm round her shoulder and she craned her neck back to keep eye contact.

"And what does your doctor specialize in?" I asked the words tumbling out of my mouth so fast that I wasn't sure she could understand me. Her eyes were sad again. Her hand reached out and her fingers traced my neck. She never broke eye contact with me and I just waited.

"She specializes in cancer treatment for young women," Bella said softly "Specifically leukemia treatment". Bella's hand never stopped moving on my neck but her eyes stayed locking into mine. The only part of her moving was her hand and the too quick thumping of her heart. I felt like someone had just punched me in the stomach. All of the air whooshed out of my lungs in one loud noise. I couldn't breathe.

"Leukemia" I choked out the word. I couldn't comprehend what that meant. Bella had leukemia? Of all the things that were constantly threatening her life she ended up with cancer? She was only 23 years old how could she have cancer? It still didn't make any sense. My mind was spinning. Bella was watching me closely. I saw her eyes start to water and a little tear crept out the corner of her eye. I leant down and kissed the salty drop away. She couldn't have cancer. I wouldn't let her have cancer. This was not happening. Bella had begun to shake but only that one tear had escaped so far.

"What does this mean" I whispered against her cheek, scared that if I spoke to loudly she'd lose it completely. Hell I was going to lose it in a second. I pressed my fore head to hers and closed my eyes. I couldn't loose my Bella, not to something like cancer. I wouldn't allow it. My throat felt tight and hot.

"I have a type of leukemia called chronic lymphoid leukemia" Bella said, her breath tickling my face "That's why I bruised so easily from this morning. The doctors think I've had it for years but it's only shown up in my blood test that was taken on my last check up"

I nodded against her and took a deep breath. Ok well we could fight this right? Not everyone who got cancer died from it. We could do all of the chemo and stuff and Bella would be ok. I would fight with her. I didn't realize I was crying until Bella reached up and wiped the wetness away from my cheeks. Her eyes were still watery but she smiled at me and kept her hand on my face.

"What do we do now?" I asked her "Do you start chemo therapy or something?"

"I can do that but I don't know if I want to," Bella replied. Her small smile stayed on her face but it didn't match the tears that were now streaming down her cheeks.

"What do you mean you don't know? You have to do it. Bella if you don't do treatment-"

"I'll die" Bella cut me off with two little words. Two words that broke me. Suddenly I found my face buried in her neck. I was clinging to her back, my hands desperately trying to pull her as close to me as possible. One of her hands stroked my hair gently, soothingly. This wasn't supposed to be happening I was supposed to be comforting her not the other way round.

"Bella you can't give up on me," I forced out between sobs "I'll be with you every step of the way but you can't just give up without even trying". I was begging her now and I didn't care. I couldn't believe Bella, my beautiful Bella, was just giving up. The shoulder of her shirt was soaked now. I clutched her tight, wrapping both arms around her body. And when she spoke again I thought I was going to be sick.

"Dr. Tikvah says that the five year survival rate is about 50%, but Jake there isn't a cure and it looks like we've caught it late. Chemo would stall the disease but it wouldn't make me better" Bella's voice was unbelievably calm. How could she be so calm?

"How long have you known?" I asked her with a shuddering breath that shook my whole frame.

"Almost a week but I didn't have full conformation until today"

"And you won't do chemo at all?" I asked her, no more like I begged her. She had to try and fight it. Maybe in five years from now there would be a cure. There's only a fifty percent chance she'll make it to five years, a small part of my mind whispered but I shoved that cruel voice away, refusing to acknowledge it. I pulled away from her shoulder.

"I will if that's what you want" Bella replied, her eyes were open and honest and I knew she meant it. I didn't care that she was only doing it for me and not for herself. Anything that bought more time for some kind of cure was good by me. I nodded vigorously and looked down at her amazingly calm face, marred only by the constant silent tears that were dripping from her chin.

"Bells, you have to at least try to fight it" I pleaded. I cupped that calm face and when my hand touched her cheek, the façade shattered. Her sobs were loud and I wiped the tears away with large thumbs. I couldn't take it any more. I lean forward and kissed her, trying to convince her that I would never give up on her.

The kiss was needy and she fisted my hair painfully. Both of our cheeks were wet and I felt a sob catch in her throat. I broke the kiss and held her so tightly against my body that I knew for sure there would be more bruises tomorrow. I relaxed my grip but Bella squeezed my arms, telling me without words not to let her go. Her forehead rested against my jaw, her wet face pressed into my neck.

"Ok, we fight then" She said between gulps, her breath was warm on my neck.

My world was shattered but we decided to fight together on a Monday.